Changes
by Butterfly218
Summary: So many changes happened in your life that you began wondering if you even deserve some of it, good and bad. Sooner or later, you can't help but accept the cards you have and hope that you can play them well.


**AN: Well this is a fanfic about the little twelve-year old Sherry Birkin. She is so cute! Even after fourteen years, she is still cute. Can you believe she's 26 years old? Leave a review! ^_^ or a message in my inbox!**

* * *

"Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well." - Josh Billings

There were days when you can't think of anything but the bad ones. There were days when you can't help but think of the good ones. At the end of the day, it didn't matter whether it was a viral outbreak or meeting the best parents as a last thought, it already happened and nothing could ever change it.

You would spend a good half of the day and think of what if's and doubt if it was really meant to happen to you, like being infected or escaping the city with everything still intact.

Sulking and rejoicing for each reason you find to live was nothing new for you. Someone loses and someone wins. Realizing that everything would always be like that meant nothing to you. It was a fact taught by your biological parents and a theory proven by fate. You knew that knowing and doing always have this huge gap in between them. People would always cross the bridge but only a few manages to stay on the right side, the 'doing' side.

* * *

You miss the life you had. The normality and unseen safety it provided. You were forced to throw everything away a month after when you just learned how to appreciate rare moments and memories. Beyond your life was a big empty unknown that could never be answered by math problems and chemical equations. It was a time too short to prepare oneself for something some people could never face.

Keeping your mouth shut when you saw those experiments your father conducted had been the first step. Second was answering the phone call your mom made and decided to follow her instructions to hide in the police department. Trusting the barely young adult and the hardly local cop you met was the easiest one.

Last was saying goodbye to your home as it blew up with bits of your father, the mangled body of your mother, and soulless body of your loving brother.

You would recall days of endless walking that resulted in hijacking an abandoned pick-up truck. Leon hotwired it and Claire fixed what she could. It was years, but only hours, until a military barricade was seen. Sick and tired you might be, they continued jabbing needles in you and running tests.

* * *

There were people there, other survivors. You even recognize some. Your classmate Mitch made it out alive, barely sane but at least alive. Her brother, the one you had a crush on for a year, didn't. Alyssa, a journalist you saw roaming around before the outbreak happened, was also there.

You would always notice small details yet, no matter how people would always say it was a gift, you would always wish it was given to someone else.

Seeing the effects, whether mental or physical, of such disasters, talking with people whose eyes seems to have this faded color in them, and being alone in such institutions weren't healthy for a twelve year-old. You were left by the two people who had always been there for you in the hands of your legal and foster parent.

You understood their reasons. The easy ones were Leon's; the government gave him a choice, you or his service. The hard ones were Claire's; it was either her missing brother or a lonely orphan girl.

You were so decided on hating Claire for making you go through the tests and experiments alone that you didn't consider the idea of her coming back and visiting you even after two years.

* * *

With that sweet smile and vibrant blue eyes that never fades no matter what while carrying a stack of boxes, it would be rude to make her stay out in the cold, especially on a Christmas holiday. What made you forgive her wasn't the four presents she bought (two birthdays and two Christmases). It was her effort of proving to you that the Claire you knew was still there and came back for you. And now, she was here for the girl she saved from Raccoon City and made a promise with.

Her second visit was with Leon. They brought pizza, movies, and a Claire's special mango cake. You couldn't care less what she put in there as long as she continued making more. The visits weren't often, but it would always leave her with a night full of fun and sometimes weird memories.

You figured life inside an almost empty house with a man you don't know if you hate or not was enough, if it meant visits from Leon and Claire were inevitable.

Soon, Leon was promoted from a government agent into the Division of Security Operations and Claire got a job at Terrasave, helping survivors make it through ordeals like Raccoon City. Nevertheless, being busy didn't stop the two from sparing a night out with you.

* * *

Fourteen years of waiting and proving to the government you weren't a liability but an asset was enough for the officials to offer you a job. Second thoughts never occurred to you, so long as you can finally go out there and make small but life-changing differences.

There were these things, a lot of them, that you were grateful for and would never have gotten if not for the viral outbreak; a new family, a new life and a new future.

You would always start the day, seeing a lost girl who couldn't do anything but be a burden to everyone around, and end it, thanking God for the chance to make and do a change you couldn't fourteen years ago.

Starting today, as an agent of National Security, a lot of things in your life were about to change.

Starting with your new subject, Jake Muller.

* * *

**AN: I hope you guys like it! ^_^ Isn't Sherry cute and Jake so hot?! **


End file.
